Anna Breslaw

Author, blogger and creative consultant Erica Kennedy passed away yesterday at the age of 42 in Miami Beach, Florida. For now, the cause of death is unknown. Kennedy began her career as a special correspondent to the New York Daily News and contributed to Vibe, In Style, Paper and Elle UK. (Here's a great thing she wrote for XOJane.) She published two novels: Bling, a satire of the hip-hop industry, was a 2004 New York Times bestseller, and Feminista five years later.

An avid and popular Twitter user (@ericajk), Roger Ebert was one of her biggest fans, and tweets "The world is a lesser place." And here is a a sad, angry piece about Kennedy's passing by XOJane blogger and Nigerian poet-writer Bassey Ikpi on her blog.